On December 19th, 2024, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA”) held its monthly Board meeting in Trenton, NJ. Along with other items, the NJEDA approved three new Aspire awards in Camden, Fort Monmouth, and Trenton, totaling over $400,000,000 in tax credits.

The NJEDA also approved an award through the Atlantic City Revitalization Grant Program, in addition to updating and reopening the program, which provides grant funding of up to 50% of eligible soft and hard costs for qualifying projects in Atlantic City.

Additionally, on Thursday, December 19th, 2024, the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly passed legislation (S1323/A2076) that will significantly change the Aspire Tax Credit Program. The law is anticipated to be signed by Governor Murphy in the coming weeks.

See below for more details on these updates and the associated programs.

Aspire Approvals

The NJEDA Board approved three new Aspire projects at their December 19th meeting. These new projects were located in Camden, Fort Monmouth and Trenton and totaled over $400,000,000 in new tax credits.

A residential project in Camden was awarded approximately $17,720,000 in Aspire tax credits for a project including:

• 30 affordable housing units
• 26,283 square foot health center
• $36,000,000 in total development costs
• 4,481-square-foot commercial space

Netflix's new flagship East Coast production facility, located in Fort Monmouth, NJ, was awarded $387,000,000 tax credits. This Transformative project, slated to open in 2028, will comprise:

• Over 1,000,000 square feet studio campus over a 292-acre parcel
• 12 soundstages, backlot areas, an office building, and other production support facilities

A 100% affordable rehabilitation project in Trenton, NJ, was awarded $22,769,231 in tax credits, consisting of 110 rental units affordable at 60% of Area Median Income ("AMI") spread across eight 3-story buildings.

To date, the NJEDA has awarded over $2,500,000,000 in tax credits to 25 development projects in municipalities across New Jersey, including Woodbridge, Morristown, Newark, Hoboken, Union City, Bayonne, Trenton, and Camden. The Aspire Tax Credit Program provides tax credits covering between 50-85% of eligible project costs (not to exceed between $60M-$120M) for qualifying projects in eligible locations. Aspire can be used for both residential and commercial developments, and for projects as small as 25,000 – 50,000 square feet for commercial and $5,000,000 – $17,500,000 for residential, depending on location.

Aspire Amendments

On December 19th, 2024, the New Jersey State Senate and Assembly passed legislation (S1323/A2076) updating Aspire which will have significant implications for the program. The amendments alter which projects qualify, the size of the potential tax credit and several key aspects that have financial implications for a project that uses the Aspire program.

Major changes to the program include:

• Additional cities now qualify as Government Restricted Municipalities (GRMs)
• New Special Mission Non-profit Projects (SMNP) designation
• Lower thresholds to qualify as a mixed-use Transformative project
• Reduced Eligibility Periods for certain projects

Have a look at earlier post ( Aspire Tax Credit Update – NJ Legislature Approves Amendments ) for more detailed information.

Atlantic City Revitalization Program

This program was initially funded with $19,650,000 and began accepting rolling applications on January 31, 2024. The program was created to provide grant funding to for-profit and non-profit developers to help fund projects that contribute to Atlantic City's revitalization. It funded up to 50% of eligible soft and hard costs for qualifying projects, with a required grant size of $1,000,000 to $10,000,000.

Every project must focus on addressing at least one local impact priority, including:

• Addressing downtown vitality efforts
• Job and office space creation
• Food insecurity
• Clean and safe initiatives
• Small business support

At the December 19th meeting, the NJEDA Board approved a grant of $4,200,000, in addition the rollover and reallocation of previously unused and withdrawn funding in order to reopen the application window. After this approval, $3,900,000 will remain in available funding. The Board approved changes to the rules of the program, including the requirement that future programs be rehabilitation only, among others. The program closed applications earlier this year, and a date has not yet been set for the next application window.

For more information, please contact:

Brendan Pytka
Director of Tax Credits & Incentives
Phone: (862) 418-3702
Email: bpytka@murphyllp.com

Chris J. Murphy, Partner
Chair, Tax Credits & Incentives
Phone: (973) 705-7421
Email: cmurphy@murphyllp.com